Spartans Drop Pair in First Day at Colorado Premier

DENVER, Colo. – The No. 1-ranked University of Tampa volleyball team dropped a pair of matches in day one of the annual Colorado Premier Classic, falling in five sets to No. 20 Texas A&M University at Commerce and being swept by co-host Regis University.

HOW IT HAPPENED MATCH ONE

UT appeared to be in control as it took the first two games against Texas A&M-Commerce. After taking a 27-25 win in the opening game, Tampa won the second by a 25-13 score. The Lions fought back to win a pivotal third set by a 26-24 score followed by a 25-21 and 15-8 win to secure the upset of the defending national champions. Hitting .235 and .320 in the first two sets, Tampa hit just .095, .125 and .188 respectively in the final three sets.

HOW IT HAPPENED MATCH TWO

The host Rangers continued their dominating play after sweeping Texas A&M-Commerce to remain undefeated on the season. Following a two-point victory in both the first and second sets, Regis clinched the three-set sweep with a dominating showing in a 25-6 set three win. The Spartans hit -.375 in the third set while the Rangers posted a .389 clip. The front-line for Regis registered a dominating 14 blocks, compared to just three for the Spartans.

INSIDE THE STATS

MATCH ONE

• Katie McKiel returned to her home state and posted a team-high 19 kills. She also notched 13 digs and four blocks for the Spartans.
• Sorrel Houghton was in double figures with 10 kills.
• Middle hitter Kamari Potter hit .500 with nine kills. She also led the Spartans with five blocks.
• Senior Nicole Dominguez had a team-high 16 digs to go with a pair of service aces.

MATCH TWO

• McKiel led the way with nine kills.
• The defense was led by sophomore Claudia Rivera's 11 digs.
• Sarah Luoma was 4-for-7 on attacks with a .571 hitting percentage.
• Freshman Mackenzie Dufresne turned in a team-high two blocks.

 BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

• Tampa has now met three nationally-ranked opponents in 2019, going 2-1 with wins over No. 17 Central Missouri and No. 5 Concordia-St. Paul.
• The Spartans are now 4-2 on the year.
• UT returned to the Premier for the first time since 2017 after not attending last season.

UP NEXT

UT will close the Colorado Premier with a pair of matches on Saturday. The Spartans will face No. 11 Ferris State at 11 a.m., followed by co-host Metro State at 7 p.m. Both times are Eastern.

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